Vivek Ramaswamy, 37, Joins Trump, Haley as 2024 GOP Presidential Candidates

Vivek Ramaswamy, a 37-year-old multimillionaire biotech engineer from Ohio who has denounced "woke" corporations, has joined former President Donald Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as candidates for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

In a post on his Twitter account Tuesday night, Ramaswamy wrote: "America's strength is not our diversity but the ideals that unify us across our differences. Merit. Free speech. Truth. Accountability. I believe deep in my bones these ideals still exist, and I am running for President to revive them."

Like Haley, Ramaswamy was born in the U.S. to Indian immigrants. He last year co-founded Strive Asset Management, which, according to his website, focuses on "restoring the voices of everyday citizens in the American economy by leading companies to focus on excellence over politics.​​"

The Financial Times reported as of November, the company had more than $500 million in assets under management.

He also is the author of two books: "Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence" and "Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam."

Ramaswamy, 37, told Newsmax on Feb. 16 that Trump's run for the White House in 2016 inspired him to carve out his own career in politics.

Ramaswamy likely will be the youngest of what is expected to be a crowded field of GOP presidential candidates with vast experience in national politics and campaigning. The field will grow substantially beyond Trump, Haley, and Ramaswamy, with the likes of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expected to announce their candidacies.

"It may seem presumptuous for a 37-year-old political outsider to pursue the highest office in the land, but I am running on a vision for our nation — one that revives merit in every sphere of American life," Ramaswamy wrote in The Wall Street Journal editorial published Tuesday night.

"Once we revive our national identity around shared principles, we can muster the fortitude needed to defeat the greatest external threat to America: the rise of communist China. Unlike the Soviet Union in 1980, China today powers the modern American way of life. We must declare economic independence."

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